‘Planned killing spree’ ends with 2 shot dead

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Sheriff Bouchard provides a timeline of police response to an ‘active shooter situation’ involving a tractor trailer an AK-47 and multiple shootings, starting in Taylor and ending with two people dead.
Max Ortiz, The Detroit News

Pontiac – A gunman with an AK-47 assault rifle and more than 200 rounds of ammunition fatally shot people in Taylor and Pontiac and then was wounded himself and arrested about noon Thursday following two shootouts with police in Waterford Township.

At a press conference, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the shooter – identified only as a 45-year-old Sterling Heights man – appeared to have a “hit list in his mind” and was on a “planned killing spree.” 

“There were a couple tragedies today but there could have been many more,” said Bouchard. “He appeared to know exactly where he was going at each location and I suspect he was not done. Who knows where he may have been headed to next?”

Police said the spree of violence began about 10:30 a.m. in Taylor when the suspect, an ex-worker at BSD Linehaul Inc., entered his former workplace on Pennsylvania Road near Telegraph Road with an intent to target one of the employees, police said. 

Taylor police dispatched to the business found one man dead at the scene of a gunshot wound and the suspect on the run, apparently after he allegedly stole a white 2016 semi-tractor trailer cab.

The suspect then drove to Aluminum Blanking on W. Sheffield in Pontiac, where another shooting took place inside that building at 11:37 a.m. The victim, Eriverto Perez, 58, was shot multiple times in the back as he was sitting at a desk, Bouchard said. 

The suspect then left the building, passing up other workers whom – for still unknown reasons – he did not threaten or attack.

About 12:30 p.m., the suspect then drove to nearby Waterford Township, where he entered the Assure Trucking business off Dixie Highway and asked the whereabouts of one of the workers. When he could not find the person, he left and the business notified police and went under a lockdown, Bouchard said.

The suspect allegedly fired upon a police car near Dixie Highway and Frembes Road and sideswiped a vehicle occupied by two women, knocking it on its side. Bouchard said the two women suffered only minor injuries.

Johnny Lewis, 33, of Waterford, said he was driving home after visiting a Secretary of State’s Office when he spotted the overturned vehicle off Frembes.

“All of a sudden cops started arriving – one car after another – the first one pulling what looked like an M-16 out of his car,” said Lewis. “I thought ‘Oh boy’ this is something more than just an accident.”

Lewis said the officers took off on foot and were about 100 yards away on Frembes where he heard a series of gunshots.

“It was pretty quick, at least 10, maybe 15 shots fired,” Lewis said.

During the exchange, the suspect was wounded with a shotgun blast, Bouchard said, disarmed and taken into custody. Several 30-round magazines for the AK-47 were found inside the vehicle, which Bouchard said indicated to him that he suspect “was not through.”

The suspect was treated at an area hospital. He is expected to face various charges. 

Bouchard said the suspect was out on bond after a weapons offense in Taylor in December.

Bouchard credited police agencies and dispatchers from Taylor, Waterford, Auburn Hills and his office for keeping officers on track after the suspect.

mmartindale@detroitnews.com

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